All eyes are on the NCAA Tournament, and for good reason. It is one of the most exciting events in all of sports, and it is what deems a Kentucky basketball season successful or not.

That said, the transfer portal is just days away from opening on Monday, March 24th, and according to Matt Jones of Kentucky Sports Radio, the Wildcats allegedly already have a “stud” prospect coming in next season.

“I was talking to someone at the game tonight, a reporter,” Jones said during a postgame radio show on Friday night. “He wouldn’t tell me who it is, but said there’s one stud they already have.”

As to who that player is, that is speculation. Many players who lost in their conference tournament have already announced their intentions to enter the portal to get a head start but have to wait until March 24th to officially enter and have until it closes on April 22nd to make their decision.

All focus will be on advancing in the NCAA Tournament, but it will be interesting to see how Mark Pope and his staff attack the portal after his first season and with ample time, unlike last offseason.

Kentucky didn’t play to their ability against Alabama. Playing less than 24 hours before, down their starting point guard in Lamont Butler, and their leading scorer in Otega Oweh for an extended period of time, it’s not difficult to see why.

Shortly after the Crimson Tide’s 99-70 win over Kentucky, head coach Nate Oats was asked about their next matchup against the Florida Gators. To which Oats responded with some subtle shade the Wildcats’ way.

“Florida is a lot better team [than Kentucky],” Oats said. “They’re a lot deeper. They’re not missing so many pieces due to injury like Kentucky was. We’re gonna be in for a war tonight.”

While Oats did acknowledge Kentucky’s injuries, the initial comment was very much avoidable.

Against the Gators, Alabama went on to lose forward Grant Nelson and was outscored 57-37 in the second half, ultimately suffering a blowout loss of their own, 104- 82.

Just imagine what would have happened had they been down two starters and a backup point guard.

Lightning never strikes twice… unless you’re wearing blue in Nashville.

For the second time in mere weeks, Kentucky had a game come down to the wire with the Oklahoma Sooners and were saved at the buzzer by a heroic bucket from Otega Oweh. The former win was on the road, marking an important crux in the ‘Cats chase for higher seeding.

The latter came in the form of the Wildcats’ first conference tournament win in more than three years. To say the least, the win meant a lot to both the team and the program. Celebration is certainly in order.

Though, as has become the norm in this injury-ridden season, there’s another, less fortunate side to this coin: Lamont Butler has gone down once again, appearing to re-aggravate his left shoulder injury in the first half of his first SEC Tournament game.

After taking heavy precautions, adding the brace, and sitting out his fair share of time already, it seemed that the worst was behind Kentucky’s team-leading point guard. He talked about being at “85-90%” just a few weeks before he left the game last night, only to return to the bench in a warm-up shirt. He was confirmed to be out for the rest of the match shortly after.

So what now? According to Mark Pope, who noted that Butler underwent imaging on his shoulder at halftime, he’s “praying like crazy” that Butler can “find his way back onto the court at some point this year.”

An Unfair Game

“It just doesn’t seem fair,” he said, following the game. “This is not a fair game… man I would like for him so badly to be able to step on a court again, so we’ll see how it goes.”

“We’ll see.”

Regarding his current status, ‘Cats fans have little more to go off of than Pope’s hopeful outlook going forward. But while the waiting game sucks, it’s something that Kentucky fans are more than used to by now.

And in the meantime, the Crimson Tide are on deck in Nashville, and the big blue nation isn’t going anywhere. The Wildcats that remain will tip off against Alabama tonight at (hopefully) 9:30 p.m. on ESPN. A win would mean a date with the winner of Missouri/Florida in the SEC Semifinals.

A loss would mean the next match is madness.